Nikon has released updates to Capture NX-D and View NX-i. The new version of Capture NX-D has brought back Control Points - essentially the same feature that was in Capture NX2 developed by Nik and known as U Point.

I've downloaded the program and done some quick testing. It works quite well. As before, it's not the most intuitive program and edits are maintained in a proprietary sidecar, but you can always export to other formats and continue using a TIFF in LR, Photoshop, or other programs.

You open the Control Point Panel and click on the Control Point icon on the right side of the panel to activate new control points with a click of your mouse. You can right click to duplicate or delete control points. You can also right click to show the areas affected.

The control points cover more than just Hue, Saturation and Brightness. You just need to click on the small arrow below the sliders (for advanced controls) to expand the adjustments to include all eight sliders - Hue, Saturation, and Brightness plus Contrast, Red, Green, Blue, Warmth.

You can adjust the size of the control point and how much area is impacted. It works fine even at a 100% zoom or more.

As with earlier versions of Capture NX2, you can apply a neutral control point to prevent adjustments spilling over into unwanted areas.

I've been avoiding NX-D, but control points are excellent and easier to use than Lightroom adjustment brush for some edits.

The Retouch Brush in Capture NX-D has a nice feature in that you can go over the same area multiple times to improve coverage. Sometimes it works nicely while other times you need the adjustments of Lightroom or Photoshop.

This update is a big improvement in the free software. It's definitely worth giving NX-D a try and using it when appropriate.